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Neither said anything.
“I will be here until I die,” Celeste said.
“No, you will vacate. Be gone! This is our right. I refuse to be across the palace from my wife or to share space with her younger sisters. We need privacy.”
“It will be fine.”
“Do you want grandchildren? We have been patient and we need space.”
Celeste had no reply.
I reinforced my statement. “The Dowager Queen will move across the palace to where I am presently staying. I will move into the King’s former quarters. Alexandra will rightfully take up these quarters. So help me, Lord William. It will be done by the time I return.”
Thirty-Three
Alexandra
The doors suddenly opened, revealing my breathless fiancé. He was livid—the vein popping out in his neck said it all. I was a crying mess and in no mood to fight, so I hoped he was cross with someone or something else. I longed to crawl into a hole somewhere.
“Sir, you cannot be here!” Marta said. “It is bad luck.”
“We have had enough bad luck, Marta. Alexandra, Celeste has been lit on fire. I perhaps overstepped, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck about that,” Rick said. “How do we fix this?”
I wasn’t sure if he meant us or the dress. Either way, I wanted the help more than ever.
“The dress is ruined. I have no idea how to fix it. Just look at me.”
He approached, looking me up and down, curious. Rick shook his head.
“You are beautiful as ever, but this thing does you no favours. You will always be stunning, mind you, but if this is not what you want, we gotta fix it.”
His words made me melt. I wanted to kiss him again, to hear he loved me, and I wanted to love him back. That spark wasn’t dead, but I remained frightened to jump in again. Still, his admission seemed genuine. He thought I was beautiful even in this hideous, dreadful dress. Maybe I needed to hear it more than ever or maybe I was miserable without him. I figured it was a bit of both.
“How can we fix it?” Rick asked.
“We cannot. The dress is cut,” another woman said. “We would have to pull it all apart. That would take a month or more.”
Rick shook his head. “That won’t do. Hmm… there is a second dress?”
The women nodded.
“Rick, it’s strapless. I cannot wear that in the cathedral,” I said. “I hope it is beautiful, but it will not do.”
“We might be able to make something to go over it,” Marta said. “Use lace or another fabric to cover her shoulders?”
The designer nodded. “I will come up with a few ideas. You are alright with wearing that all day?”
I nodded emphatically. “If it is the same dress I ordered, yes.”
“It was unchanged, ma’am,” a woman confirmed.
“Then, try it on,” Rick said.
“Rick, I’m not going to do that standing here with you. Go. If it can be salvaged, I don’t want you to see me!”
“Why? Because you care?”
He was smirking. I wanted to slap him. I also wanted to thank him.
